The Lawman – Feb 16 2018
Not again! There’s a disturbance on the green!
The only disturbance on the green we want or should have to manage as officials is the disturbance of the head!
C.5 defines this as altering the position of the jack or bowl in the head. C.4 defines a displaced jack or bowl which is moved in a way that is not approved within the Laws of the Sport.
Many times I have heard bowlers state: “Bad luck that’s 8 shots to us!!” Not true! Or an opposition player says they don’t really know where to replace or bowl or jack so let’s declare a dead end. Should never happen!
There are many ways the head can be disturbed and the bowl or jack displaced. Let’s investigate a few scenarios and what should happen.
A. Skips hat from another rink flies off and disturbs the head on your rink? What should happen?
B. The umpire while measuring moves the jack.
C. A player while measuring moves a bowl.
D. The players lifter falls over and disturbs the head.
E. A bowl from the neighbouring rink is heading for a bowl at rest in your head.
F. A bowl is disturbed by the players wheelchair.
G. A bowl is moved before the thirds have agreed to move it or agreed on the number of shots scored.
What should happen?
A. The Skip’s hat is a neutral object and the skips or opponents in singles must attempt to replace the disturbed bowls or jack to their former positions. If they cannot agree, they must declare the end dead. Laws 37.3.4.2 & 38.3.3
B. The umpire must put the displaced jack to its former position. Be embarrassed and hope no one has seen them. Law 38.4.3
C. The player’s opponent must place it back in its former position. That’s MUST and the player or their team must make no comment on the opponents decision. It cannot be a declared dead!
D. The lifter is considered to be belonging to the player on the rink of play and therefore is not neutral. C.23.2.1. The player’s opponent must place the head back in its former position.
E. The player must choose to lift the bowl at rest to allow the bowl to pass and then replace it ( Law 37.6.1.1) OR stop the bowl from the neighbouring rink, Law 37.6.1.2. The bowl is returned to the player who can replay the bowl so long as it was delivered on the correct bias. Law 17.1.5.
F. The player’s opponent must place it back in its former position. That’s MUST and the player or their team must make no comment on the opponent’s decision. It cannot be a declared dead!
G. If a bowl at rest is displaced by a player and hasn’t disturbed the head the opponent MUST put it back to its former position. Law 37.1.4.1. If the bowl disturbs the head after its displaced the opponent must put it back to its former position and also restore any part of the head that has been disturbed. Law 37.1.4.2. SIDE NOTE: The preferred practice by BV State Umpiring Committee is to stop all bowls from neighbouring rinks particularly if more than one bowl needs to be lifted. It can become dangerous by lifting bowls and not noticing other bowls around you possibly resulting in a fall. If you are marking a game you MUST stop the bowl from a neighbouring rink – Law 42.1.10.
APPENDIX C (pages 106 – 109) of the Laws of the Sport 3rd Edition, provides an excellent summary of all types of displacement and disturbance.
John Roberts
BV Umpiring Committee Chairman
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